Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Andrei’s hand found mine, his fingers intertwining with mine and holding tight. “Natalia, look at me.”

I dragged my eyes upward to meet his.

“I grieved for you,” he said firmly. “For months after that accident, I couldn’t function. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think about anything except how I’d failed to protect you. The guilt nearly destroyed me.”

“But you moved on. You were with Lilith-”

“I was existing with Lilith. There’s a difference.” His hand tightened around mine. “I thought if I could just… if I could make myself love her again, then maybe the pain would stop. But I could never do that. And I never would have hurt you, Natalia. Never. Letting you go if you wanted a divorce was one thing, but hurting you… the thought never even crossed my mind.”

I stared at him for a long, silent moment, just processing his words. All these years of fear, of running, of keeping our children hidden… and he’d been grieving for me. Believing I was dead just like I’d believed he wanted me dead.

“We’re both idiots,” I finally muttered.

“Complete and utter idiot.” Was that a chuckle I heard rumbling in his chest, or a cough? “We let fear and mistrust destroy everything we could have had.”

“The twins could have grown up with their father. We could have been a family.”

“We still can be.” His words made my heart tighten. “If you want that.”

I laughed, although it came out more like a sob. “Andrei, I stabbed you. I nearly killed you because I was too scared to trust you. As if it wasn’t bad enough already that I kept them from you for five years and let you grieve all because of a hunch.”

“You were protecting yourself and our children. I understand that.”

“No, you don’t understand.” I shook my head. “When you reached for me this morning, I wasn’t just afraid. I was back there, back in that car. I was drowning in that water all over again. I was back in the forest where those rogues tried to finish the job. I couldn’t see you anymore. I just saw another threat, another person trying to hurt me, and I reacted.”

Andrei’s expression softened. “Trauma does that. It makes us see danger even when there isn’t any.”

“I should have known better. Should have trusted-”

“Stop.” He tugged on my hand gently. “We both made mistakes. We both let fear control us instead of talking to each other. But we’re talking now.”

We were. For the first time in years, we were actually communicating instead of just hurting each other and walking away and doing it all over again.

It was terrifying. But it was also… nice.

Before I knew it, the infirmary hegan gottine de-).

clouds drifting across the sky, occasionally revealing glimpses of the moon behind them.

+25 Bonus

We had spent all day talking. Not just about the many accidents, but about all of the good moments, too. The twins‘ first steps. Their first words. My life under Damon’s protection. The beauty of Ashmoor and the things I’d missed in Moonshadow.

Hell, we even talked about our favorite books and music and movies.

Finally, the clock ticked past midnight. “I should go,” I whispered, standing. “It’s late.”

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